4 ms·

Lesson for startups here: There are tons of devices/apps that do exactly what this does already. What's the difference? Automatic has great design, snappy do

by ry0ohki 14y ago

Lesson for startups here: There are tons of devices/apps that do exactly what this does already. What's the difference? Automatic has great design, snappy domain name, and most importantly mass market positioning. These had traditionally been targeted towards gear heads, but Automatic smartly positioned it to be something mass market (gas mileage, etc...)

jessriedel 14y ago
Could you give an example or two of their best competitor?
- drone 14y ago
  Automatic seems to be mostly aimed at consumers who wish to have statistics more than to perform optimizations or do diagnosis, but here are a couple that are fairly common in the aftermarket: Stats, Tuning, Android App, Bluetooth dongle: http://www.superchips.com/Store/VIVIDLINQ.aspx http://www.superchips.com/Store/VIVIDLINQ.aspx App to work with any number of bluetooth OBD-II dongles: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torq... Personally, as someone who regularly changes drivetrain, tires sizes, gearing, etc. on vehicles, I'll stick with things like VIVID which do work pretty well for the most part. I can see a market for people who just want an easy app that tells them statistics and such (but those do already exist, just not as easy for the average user since they've been the domain of tuners for a while).
- ry0ohki 14y ago
  I've never used any of them, but some quick Googling: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashcommand-obd-ii-gauge-dashboards/id321293183?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashcommand-obd-ii-gauge-das... http://devtoaster.com/products/rev/index.html http://devtoaster.com/products/rev/index.html
  - admiralpumpkin 14y ago
    The first link is a $50 piece of software that still requires a dongle. The suggested dongle is $99. The next piece of software is $40 and works with three listed 3rd party dongles each over $100 (unable to find price from the one in Germany). If these are Automatic's best competitors, they're going to clean up. They control the whole widget and they appear to have a good UI.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
- joshmlewis 14y ago
  It depends what you're after. Most sports cars are programmable to tweak different things about the engine and transmission. Some companies that sell handheld devices that read, record, and write data are: SCT, AccessPORT, and Diablo.
- Too 14y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5362802 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5362802

by ry0ohki 14y ago

jessriedel 14y ago

Could you give an example or two of their best competitor?

drone 14y ago
Automatic seems to be mostly aimed at consumers who wish to have statistics more than to perform optimizations or do diagnosis, but here are a couple that are fairly common in the aftermarket: Stats, Tuning, Android App, Bluetooth dongle: http://www.superchips.com/Store/VIVIDLINQ.aspx http://www.superchips.com/Store/VIVIDLINQ.aspx App to work with any number of bluetooth OBD-II dongles: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torq... Personally, as someone who regularly changes drivetrain, tires sizes, gearing, etc. on vehicles, I'll stick with things like VIVID which do work pretty well for the most part. I can see a market for people who just want an easy app that tells them statistics and such (but those do already exist, just not as easy for the average user since they've been the domain of tuners for a while).
ry0ohki 14y ago
I've never used any of them, but some quick Googling: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashcommand-obd-ii-gauge-dashboards/id321293183?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashcommand-obd-ii-gauge-das... http://devtoaster.com/products/rev/index.html http://devtoaster.com/products/rev/index.html
- admiralpumpkin 14y ago
  The first link is a $50 piece of software that still requires a dongle. The suggested dongle is $99. The next piece of software is $40 and works with three listed 3rd party dongles each over $100 (unable to find price from the one in Germany). If these are Automatic's best competitors, they're going to clean up. They control the whole widget and they appear to have a good UI.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
joshmlewis 14y ago
It depends what you're after. Most sports cars are programmable to tweak different things about the engine and transmission. Some companies that sell handheld devices that read, record, and write data are: SCT, AccessPORT, and Diablo.
Too 14y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5362802 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5362802